Police Say Woman Claimed To Be Doctor

June 19, 1999|By C. RON ALLEN Staff Writer

BOCA RATON — A woman claiming to be a German doctor was arrested at her home on Friday on charges of practicing medicine without a license, police said.

Silke Friedrich, who police said charges $500 for blood work and accepts only cash or checks, told a couple who were actually undercover police officers that she had a license in Germany, but not in the United States, police said.

She refuses to get a license because she does not believe in the medical theories of this country, Detective Michele Miuccio wrote in her arrest report.

"She stated that if the American Medical Association knew she was doing this, she could go to jail," Miuccio wrote.

Friedrich, 49, was charged with a third-degree felony.

She was in the Palm Beach County Jail late Friday. Bail was set at $3,000.

Friedrich, who claimed to be an oncologist trained in conventional and homeopathic medicine, worked from her home at Southwest 18th Street.In early June, the undercover officers met with Friedrich's astrologer, Phyllis Rodriguez, for a reading, police said.

They said they wanted a reading because they were engaged and recently discovered the bride-to-be had cancer, police said.

Rodriguez told them her husband and brother also had cancer, and that Friedrich cured her husband with macrobiotics and medication, Miuccio wrote.

Rodriguez suggested they read the doctor's book and took "the couple" into the adjacent living room to meet Friedrich.

The female officer told Friedrich she had a tumor, and that her doctor suggested a lumpectomy, police said.

"She said she was scared and did not want to go through chemotherapy and radiation," Miuccio wrote.

But, police reports said, Friedrich assured her she could determine someone's condition, area of illness, size of tumors and type and location of cancer.

Friedrich offered to examine her blood then write her a prescription, police said.

She also would give the patient a form to order the medicine, they said.

But the drug store is in Germany, and patients must give Friedrich their credit card number to call in, police said.

Friedrich also tells her patients to order a three-month supply to avoid additional shipping charges, police said.